Scheme without money is like flying kite without string: Chidambaram mocks 'Modicare'

BJP's 'Modicare' came under renewed attack from the Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram a day after the Union Budget. Taking to Twitter, Chidambaram referring to 'healthcare scheme', stated that a scheme without money is like flying a kite without a string. The kite flyer will say that the kite is flying, but there will be no kite and nothing will be flying.

''Yesterday, I had said that the new HEALTH CARE SCHEME is a jumla with no money provided in the budget. Today, FM has admitted that no money has been provided and he will 'raise money in the future'. Perfect jumla,'' he said in another Tweet.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech announced a flagship national health insurance scheme that will cover about 50 crore people in India. 

The health coverage of the scheme will be up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. “We are slowly progressing towards universal health coverage,” Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech, adding that the scheme will be the “world’s largest healthcare programme,” Jaitley added.

The minister said out of the 25 crore families in India, the bottom 10 crore family which constitute 40 per cent of the population will benefit from the new healthcare plan.

"The poor families will now have an insurance card and can go to any hospital and show their card to avail health benefits," he said.

"We can make this scheme universal, then the world will have to acknowledge that whether Obamacare became successful or not, 'Modicare' can definitely be made successful," the finance minister said.

On the question of funding of "Modicare", the minister said it was mainly an operational detail and that it would be funded by the government.

"The healthcare plan is a major step in ensuring the social security of the country," the minister said.